Ḥimyar

Ḥimyar, originally, an important tribe in the ancient Sabaean kingdom of southwestern Arabia; later, the powerful rulers of much of southern Arabia from about 115 bc to about ad 525.

The Ḥimyarites were concentrated in the area known as Dhū Raydān on the coast of present-day Yemen; they were probably aided in the overthrow of their Sabaean kinsmen by the discovery of a sea route from Egypt to India, which deprived the inland Sabaean kingdom of its former importance as a centre for overland trade. The Ḥimyarites (classical Homeritae) inherited the Sabaean language and culture, and from their capital at Ẓafār their power at times extended eastward as far as the Persian Gulf and northward into the Arabian Desert. At the beginning of the 4th century ad, the Ḥimyar capital was moved northward to Sanaa, and later in that century both Christianity and Judaism gained firm footholds in the area. Internal disorders and changing trade routes caused the kingdom to suffer political and economic decline, and in 525, after several unsuccessful attempts, Abyssinian invaders finally crushed the Ḥimyarites. A Ḥimyar appeal to Persia for aid led to Persian control in 575.

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